I've been charged with sourcing a high quality expression of Isle of Jura. Budget is preferrably under £100 but an extra £20-£30 is manageable if worth it. It can be either an independent or official bottling but given availability is important obscure and/or historic bottlings from single casks mig...

While I'm at it - like a lot of people I'm taking a snow day today so trying to use my time fruitfully:- A chance to hear from one of the world's foremost authorities on the Irish whiskey industry. "(£15) is refundable against certain bottle purchases on the evening. Please take note of your or...

The exciting whisk(e)y times we live in continues to blossom - the variety of choice for us enthusiasts has never been so great and the quality is likewise at a peak I believe. The current explosion of production in Ireland will be featured in the next RMW event with the Irish Distillers range being...

The current auction is a special charity auction and 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Scottish Rugby legend Doddie Weir's "My Name'5 Doddie Foundation" to help find a cure for Motor Neurone Disease. Start Date: 21st February 2018 End Date: 7th March 2018 8:00pm https://royalmilewhis...

We recently had a vertical tasting featuring Benriach. If time allows I like to compile any notes into a readable form. I think over time I've posted them all here but if you want there is a link below to my website's 'distillery profile' section. Please add anything you think relevant or point out ...

Royal Mile Whiskies are testing the fusion waters with getting on the band wagon of pairing whisky with cuisine. Keeping it up market there will be experimental pairings of drams with crisps and nuts. Just what will pickled onion Monster Munch go best with?... https://www.royalmilewhiskies.com/gifts...

Good stuff. Sandy MacNab would have had a fair chunk of Lochside in it, yum. We had a 70s Old Smuggler which was very good - Bunnahabhain a big part I think. We've 70s Bells and JW to try blind against the current versions, it'll be interesting to see if people report a big difference and to see if ...

The Making of Scotch Whisky - Moss and Hume definitive (?) record of the Scotch whisky industry history. The Whisky Men, collated by Smith; profiles and interviews with influencial characters from the industry. Here are a couple of links to lists of publications, one very dry, the other pictorial, t...

Interesting question - you've perhaps tasted more of Macallan than I have so I suspect a comparison of old versus new based on your extensive experience has value. I'm personally a fan of sherry cask matured whisky so Macallan generally works. I'd have to say I've had a lot of enjoyment from the 10y...

Certainly days go by without a post, then a one off question for help with a gift purchase. I'd have thought WM would have been interested in cultivating membership. Maybe the soil is still fertile, perhaps a few seeds, some fertilizer and TLC and hey presto a healthy filed of barley, or soemthing l...

Triple distilled spirit eluded me (there was a chance of a Horizons 12yo port cask finished at 50% but as we tried it 10 years ago and it didn't display any particular character ascribable to triple distillatios I thought we'd not repeat the pour). There will be the brand new 21yo and a Burgundy cas...

So ton'gth's tasting will have us try triple distilled Auchentoshan, Double distilled Glen Keith then Benrinnes, Mortlach and Springbank who all use a hybrid of the two systems. At least one distiller will be there to keep us on track with our pseudo-science.

Next tasting: Thursday February 8th Benriach Vertical 7:30pm The Kilderkin, Royal Mile, £25 Hopefully some triple distilled spirit, an unusual cask maturation but definately the current 10yo compared with one from the 1990s and their now discontinued peated 'Solstice' expression.It's not hosted by t...

So the big mystery : it was all blends. Perhaps wrongly I assumed poor attendnace for a tasting built around blended whisky. As it happened 26 of us took the plunge. I wasn't sure how long to keep the connection between the drams secret but we lasted until the final pour. There was some good guesses...

Well a new season is upon us. The first three dates are detailed in the link below:- https://www.royalmilewhiskies.com/gifts/events/ The first, on 23rd January, looks at 5 new releases, details to follow. The next is a closer look at varying distillation regimes: double, triple and what's in between...

Dates for 2018 are confirmed but the themes are to be finalised Jan 18 Mystery theme 7:30pm The Kilderkin £25 - 5 drams linked but the connection is secret Feb 8 Benriach Vertical 7:30pm The Kilderkin £25 March 1 POURS 7:30pm The Kilderkin £25 5 drams from the broad selection this Speysider has to o...

If anyone is interested RMW have just started an auction - some nice old bottles amongst other trinkets. Over the years so much stuff has gone through the hundreds of auctions - they're actually great record of what has been. Martin Green and Malcolm Greenwood once released a couple of books making ...

I don't want to give too much away about the line up of the two Christmas tastings as when possible I like to pour the drams blind so everyone can judge the whiskies on their merits rather than be persuaded by expectations of reputation, age cask type, brand etc. I will say that in the cupboard ther...

The Travel Retail Exclusive tasting on the 23rd Nov. sold out so I turned attention to the Christmas Tasting on the 14th December which sold out before I mentioned it on Facebook/websites/forums. As there is quite a waiting list let's schedule another festive tasting for the Thursday 7th December. L...

Another exciting proposal:- Iain Macallister, manager at Campbeltown's Glen Scotia distillery, is hosting a tasting in-store of 5 drams including the first pouring of a new single cask. Tuesday 7th November £15 (redeemable against a bottle of one of the drams poured on the right: 8pm. https://www.ro...

I'll be hosting a tasting at The Abbey bar on Edinburgh's Southside this Wednesday at 7pm for Royal Mile Whiskies. The bar has a whisky club and non-members are welcome to attend. Booking in advance will avoid turning up on the night to a full house and hence nae room at the inn. Not sure excatly wh...

So after having sold out most of the recent tasting I had to wonder if the 10 unsold spaces for last night was because of the slightly higher price point or a bit of snobbery around blended malts. Or maybe something good was on telly. It was a bit tricky choosing the order of the initial 2 drams - I...

At:- The Kilderkin, 65 Canongate, Royal Mile, Edinburgh. Thursday November 2nd 7:30pm - 10:00-ish pm £25 5 drams from this old and wee distillery on the Highland/Lowland border: The current 21yo 43% compared to 21yo from 15-ish years ago 43%, as always for these verticals the standard version (10yo ...

So the next RMW tasting is tomorrow night, 5 drams from independent bottlers:- https://www.royalmilewhiskies.com/gifts/events/best-of-the-indies-tasting/ There will be Treacle Chest from Weymss (a vatting of two Highland single malts using 14 first fill sherry hogsheads, 46%, 6300 bottles.) a Clynel...

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Welcome to the Whisky Magazine forum, a place where enthusiasts, connoisseurs and professionals can come together to indulge in their passion for all things whisky. Discuss your most recent purchases, reflect on distillery visits and share tasting notes on your favourite drams with other like-minded forum users. Stay up-to-date on the latest industry news and events, and get involved in our regular polls. There’s no better place to get your whisky fix!